Ribbon operating and guiding mechanism for typewriting machines



E. B. HESS AND L. C. MYERS.

RIBBON OPERATING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. 1921. I

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RIBBON OPERATING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAIZI, I921.

1,417,908. Patented May 30, 1922.

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E. B, HESS AND L. C. MYERS.

RIBBON OPERATING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. 1921.

1,417,908. Patented MaySO, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

v :fiweniYOns Ewan? 15.1?5358 [1. e118 v flcirflfio @M t" E. B. HESS AND L. C. MYERS.

RIBBON OPERATING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27. I92I.

1,417,908 Patented May30, 1922.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

UNITED sures PATENT omen.

EDWARD BERNARD HESS AND LEWIS CARY MYERS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS T0 ROYAL TYPEWRITER COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RIBBON OPERATING AND GUIDING MECHANISM FOR TYPEWRITING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1922.

Original application filed January 13, 1921, Serial No. 436,924. Divided and. this application filed May To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD BERNARD Hess and LEWIS CARY MYERS, both citizens of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ribbon Operating and Guiding Mechanism for Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This application is a division of our application for patent filed January 13, 1921, Serial No. 436,924, in which a fully organized typewriting machine is shown, and many parts thereof claimed.

The claims herein are confined to improved means for supporting, guiding and moving the ribbon and for vibrating it in front of the printing point.

According to this invention the platen is mounted in a frame which is obliquely arranged with reference to the horizontal plane of the machine and is shifted obliquely in order that the printing may be clearly visible and the ribbon guide is also arranged in a similar way and is vibrated obliquely. The ribbon spools'arev mounted to turn about vertical axes and are operated from the spring drum by an inclined or obliquely arranged worm shaft which extends from the drum forwardly and is geared to the two spool shafts below the spools. Means is provided for shifting the gearing so that either spool may be positively operated to wind the ribbon thereon or to throw both spools out of operation. The escapement mechanism is operated by the type keys and the space key through a universal bar, which actuates a lever at the rear of the machine which en-- gages the escapement rocker. The vibrator or ribbon guide is actuated by said last mentioned lever through a system of levers and mechanism connected with the vibrator, said mechanism including devices whereby the vibrator may be set to present different portions of the ribbon to the type, so that different colors may be printed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of portions of a typewriting machine with our improvements applied.

Figure 2 is a detail view showing the ribbon guide or Vibrator in rear elevation Serial No. 473,170.

portions mechanism to cause the ribbon to be woundon either one of the spools or to throw both spools out of operation.

A part of th base frame of the machine is shown at A and a part of the carriage frame at B. The platen is indicated at B. The type bar segment C is arranged obliquely and the carriage frame is supported on a shift rail D in such manner that the line of print on the platen is above a horizontal plane passing through the axis of the platen.

The escapement rocker E is supported in a frame F and is actuated by a lever G which engages the spring arm G of the rocker. The lever (Jr is pivoted to move about a horizontal axis in a bracket g at the rear of the machine .behind the escapement mechanism. This lever G is connected by means of a link H with an' arm extending upwardly and rearwardly from the universal bar I, which comprises a shaft i, two sides 2' and a rear cross piece The drawings show an arm 5* extending rearwardly from the cross piece 2'", but this forms no part of the present invention. The universal bar is operated by the space key and by the key levers. one of which is shown in Figure 1 at J.

The lever G also serves to vibrate the ribbon guide while printing from differently colored portions of the ribbon.

and the shaft'onthe o posite side is sup-- ported in the bracket The ribbon spools are arranged in a horizontal plane somewhat below the plane of the printing point in order to economize space and permit of the machine being re-.

their under sides.

with heads n which are tapered or coned on" The lower end of the vertical shaftl on the right-hand side of the machine is geared at Z to a horizontal shaft N mounted in the lower ends of arms m m of the brackets M, M. The ribbon spool shaft Z on the left-hand side of the machine carries a toothed wheel Z3 which is adapted to engage a worm 0 on the inclined worm shaft which is also adapted toengage a toothed wheel 0 on the shaft N. When the worm 0 engages the toothed wheel l the ribbon spool on the left-hand side of the machine is positively actuated and when the worm engages the wheel 0', the ribbon spool on the opposite side is positively actuated. The shaft N is permanently geared to the shaft Z of the right-hand ribbon spool. The manner in which the actuating worm operates upon the toothed wheels Z '0 has been hereinbefore explained. The worm shaft 0 on the front end of which the worm 0 is secured, extends downwardly and rearwardly from the shaft N. as shown in Figure 4, and is connected by a universal joint 0 with another shaft 0 extending through a sleeve P secured to the bracket Q which supports the spring drum R. The shaft 0 carries a pinion P which meshes at all times with a toothed disc Won the drum R- which thus rotates the shaft'o and the worm shaft when the drum is actuated to advance the carriage. The revolution of the Worm shaft is controlled by detent devices 0 of wel. known construction.

Near its front end the worm shaft, 0 carries a ratchet wheel S engaged by a pawl 8 carried by the downwardly extending arm 1- of a bell, crank lever. This lever is pivoted at t to the left-hand extension of the segment C and has a horizontally extending arm t which engages a ribbon shifter t secured to a horizontal shaft 6 mounted to turn in ears t forming parts of the bracket Mon the left-hand'side of the machine. The shaft t extends through the front of the worm is thus held in engagement with either 7 the toothed wheel Z or the toothed wheel 0'. In this way either ribbon spool may be actuated to wind the ribbon while the other spool runs free.

It will be observed that the worm and its shaft, instead of being shifted vertically as heretofore, are moved laterally or horizontally from one wheel 0' to the other Z and vice versa. In this way space is economized and room provided for other mechanism. By thus arranging the shafts and the mecha nism with which they are associated, they are adapted to the oblique arrangement of other parts of the mechanism and to the general small size of the machine.

The ribbon K is conveyed from the spools L, L and the guides n, n to the ribbon guide V, which is operated to reciprocate the ribbon vertically in order that the wear thereon may be distributed. This ribbon guide, or vibrator as it is'generally called, is preferably of the kind shown, but its details of construction are not herein claimed, being claimed generally and in detail in another co-pending application, Serial No. 473,171. filed May 27, 1921. Said guide is supported by the type bar guide TV, attached to the segment C.

The guide V has an upper guide part and a downwardly extending leg V which is bent and extends rearwardly and then downwardly as shown in Figure 3 where itis connected with a bell crank lever 1 pivoted at 2 to the escapement frame F, and having a downwardly extending arm 3 pivotally connected at 4 with a downwardly and rearwardly extending arm 5 having a rear edge provided with two parts'6 and 7 adapted to engage a pin 8 carried by the lever G, which as before explained is actuated by the universal bar. Each time that the universal bar is actuated, the arm 5 is turned on its pivot 4 and correspondingly moves the bell crank lever 1 which in turn actuates the vibrator as before explained. The lever 1 is pulled in one direction by a spring 9.

When a bichrome ribbon is used. it is necessary to shift the vibrator so that it may present only one color to the type when vibrating. For this purpose we provide a lever 10 at the front of the machine, which is pivotally mounted at 11 and connected by a link 12 with an arm 13 on a shaft 14 carrying a notched hub 15 engaged by a pawl 16 pivoted at 17 to an extension of the escapement frame and held in engagement with the hub by a spring 18. The hub has two notches 19 and 20, with either of which the pawl 16 is adapted to engage and the pawl may be made to engage in either of these notches by turning the lever 10 in the proper direction. The shaft 14; has an arm 21 to which is pivotally connected a link 22 jointed at 23 with an arm 24 of the lever By these devices, when the lever is shifted either of the edges 6 or 7 may be presented to the pin 8 in such manner as to elevate or depress the vibrator and cause it to operate in front of either the top or bottom portion of the ribbon, which as usual has one color at its upper portion and a different color at its lower portion. The downward movement of the lever 1 is limited by a stop 25 and this lever is urged towards its stop by the spring 9.

The vibrator V is formed with lips c which engage the type bar guide in such manner that the vibrator is properly held and guided as it reciprocates or vibrates. The upper part of the vibrator is obliquely arranged, corresponding with the oblique arrangement of the platen carriage, and it is bifurcated as indicated at o to receive the type and allow them to act on the ribbon. As before stated, the vibrator per se forms the subject matter of said co-pending application for patent, Serial No. 473,171 in which the novel features of this part of the inven tion are claimed. It may be said, however, that the vibrator is so constructed as to properly guide the ribbon and prevent it from twisting or buckling when operating on either the upper or lower portion thereof. The ribbon is made to pass through the vibrator smoothly and evenly and to be properly wound on the ribbon spools.

\Ve claim as our invention:

1. In a typewriting machine, ribbon spools having vertical shafts, a worm-shaft, a shifting lever supporting the worm-shaft at one end and by means of which it may be brought into operative connection with either spoolshaft, and a cam-lever engaging said shifting lever and having a plurality of surfaces for engaging said shifting lever to hold it in different postions to cause the worm to operate either of thespools or to be disconnected from both spools.

2. In a typewriting machine, ribbon spools having vertical shafts and gears on their lower ends, a horizontal shaft geared to one of said gears and having a gear on its opposite end adjacent the other ribbon spool shaft, a worm shaft, a worm thereon, means for operating the worm shaft including a universal joint, a shifting lever supporting one end of said worm shaft and adapted to move the worm laterally into engagement with either the gear on the ribbon spool shaft or the gear on the horizontal shaft, a ratchet on said worm-shaft, a pawl on the shifting lever to engage the ratchet, and a cam lever to move said shift lever to either of three positions and hold it therein.

3. In a typewriting machine, a platen. ribbon spools revolving in a horizontal plane below the line of print, fixed guide rollers for the ribbon provided with coned upper ends, each guide roller located behind its spool and slightly inward from the center thereof, and an inclined vertically reciprocating vibrator adjacent the platen to which the ribbon passed in an upward path from the rollers.

4. In a typewriting machine, a platen carriage, escapement mechanism therefor, a ribbon vibrator, actuating means therefor, a vertical oscillating lever pivoted at its lower end near the base of the machine, having an upper forward edge which operates the escapement mechanism, and a rearwardly extendin arm provided with a projection which operates the actuating means for the ribbon vibrator, and a universal bar operatively connected with said oscillating lever.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

EDIVA RD BERNARD HESS. LEIVIS CARY MYERS. 

